2008 Catena Zapata Malbec Nicasia

The Catena Zapata Malbec Nicasia Vineyard is one of the three top-tier Malbecs first released by the winery in 2007. The wine exemplifies Nicolas Catena’s success and pioneering research with the Malbec grape in Mendoza. The Nicasia Vineyard, named after Nicolas Catena's grandmother, is a small, specially selected number of rows in Lot 1 of the Catena family’s Altamira Vineyard. Planted in 1996, the Malbec vines are on their own rootstock and part of a massal population from the Catena family’s historic, 80-year-old Angelica vineyard. 95 Points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: The Catena Zapata icons begin with the 2008 Nicasia Vineyard Malbec, which spent 18 months in 100% new French barriques. A glass-coating opaque purple/black, it offers up a super-fragrant nose of toasty new oak, earth notes, exotic spices, black cherry and black raspberry. This is followed by a plush, layered, intensely flavored, rich wine with potential complexity, precision, balance, and a seamless finish. Give it 4-6 years of cellaring and drink it through 2028.